Multipurpose catheter uses stretchable electronics

EVANSTON, Illinois, USA – A team that includes researchers from the McCormick School of Engineering has developed a multipurpose medical catheter using stretchable electronics. The device can both monitor heart functions and perform corrections on heart tissue during surgery.

This is the first time stretchable electronics has been applied to cardiac ablation. The research has improved from a previous demonstration of its application in heart surgery. The current research has improved on the design’s functionality, allowing its utilization in animal tests.

Details of the study, entitled “Electronic Sensor and Actuator Webs for Large-Area Complex Geometry Cardiac Mapping and Therapy,” were published in November 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cardiac ablation corrects heart rhythm irregularities by destroying specific heart tissue in an open-heart surgery or by inserting catheters through a vein in the patient’s groin and into the heart. This catheter method currently requires using three different devices inserted into the heart in succession.

“Our catheter replaces all three devices previously needed for cardiac ablation therapy, making the surgery faster, simpler, and with a lower risk of complication, said Yonggang Huang, Joseph Cummings Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at McCormick.

A section of the catheter is printed with a thin layer of stretchable electronics that is exposed to a larger surface area inside the heart upon inflation of the catheter. The individual devices within can then perform their specific tasks – pressure sensing, EKG sensing, and temperature sensing – and deliver the information in real time.